A Dragon's Wrath
by eyyyyylmao
Summary: When Natsu was adopted by Igneel, he was trained in Fire Dragon Slayer Magic, but was more of a prodigy than anyone could have realised. What happens when this new, more powerful and subdued Natsu joins Fairy Tail as an adult and how will he interact with veteran members. [NaMi]
1. Chapter 1

There was a moment of silence while a boy with shockingly bright pink hair walked into Fairy Tail. The door swinging shut behind him with a crash, a couple people muttering worriedly at the threatening aura being given off by him. Then the tension broke, "Yo guys! I hear this a pretty good guild and I've been looking for somewhere to hang out" The boy had a grin that could rival a shark, and already his presence had caught the attention of a veteran member. "And why should we care Pinky?" came the yell from another boy in nothing but a pair of shorts which looked like they were going to be removed as well. The pink haired boy immediately spun to face the challenger "its salmon you thick… Why the hell are you naked?"  
"What do you mean naked" The boy looked down "GAH! Not again!", a chorus of insults trailing him, mostly stating "Goddamnit Gray, you make us all look bad" running off to find clothes that he had 'misplaced' hours ago, the first boy just snorting at him "Anyway is there any kind of test or what? Do I fight your strongest member?" A derisive laugh could be heard from the floor above, "No of course not, nothing like that, might I ask your name?" The question came from a tiny man dressed in a cape and suit that would have looked smart if not for the huge barrel of wine resting on one of his shoulders. "Oh I'm Natsu" the boy replied cheerfully, "Ask what magic he uses Gramps" came a yell from the bar"  
"I WAS GETTING TO THAT YOU BRAT" the little man yelled back, surprisingly loud for such a small person, "anyway could you tell us your magic then Natsu?"  
"Yeah I'm a… uh fire mage" the hesitation not going unnoticed, however the old man decided to let sleeping dogs lie. "HAH" came a shout from the back of the bar, a newly clothed Gray running in "that'll make fighting you even easier hothead!" Natsu simply raised an eyebrow in amusement "thought I didn't need to fight anyone? And what makes you think I'll be an easy fight?" The boy grinning with an arrogant smirk "Because of this! ICE MAKE – LANCE" several spears shooting towards Natsu, "GRAY! DON'T ATTACK A POSSIBLE NEW MEMBER" shouted the old man, ready to block the attack. "Don't worry old man" interrupted Natsu, "this looks fun." He then directed a look at the incoming spears, "Ignite" he stated, almost bored. The spears lit on fire, melted, evaporated and then even the steam vanished. "C'mon snowflake, give me a challenge" Natsu grinned at the ice mage in front of him getting more and more pissed. "That's it newbie I'll teach you! ICE MAKE – CANNON" drawing a couple gasps that he went to such a powerful attack already, "This guy really knows how to push Gray's buttons" came a mumble from a man heavily chain smoking in the corner. Gray then fired, confident he would knock out Natsu in a hit, a cloud of dust flew up and Gray's grin grew wider. Then a sigh could be heard from the obscured figure, "Shame, seems like that was one of your stronger attacks, let's get this over and done." Gray gaped at a completely unscathed figure in front of him and for the first time took a real look at him. Natsu's clothing was plain, a black waistcoat over a red long-sleeved shirt, with its sleeves rolled up to the elbow, well-fitting leather trousers and a scaly white scarf tied around his waist. "Fall" said Natsu in his bored tone and Gray was forced to the ground, stuck there by flames on his wrists and ankles. Gray started flailing "Let me go you cowardly salsa dip!" Causing more than a few people to give him strange looks, "Do you surrender Ice Princess?" Replied Natsu, already knowing his answer, "NEVER" shouted back Gray. "Figured as much" said Natsu with a grin, then slammed Gray in the face.

Natsu turned back to the old man "Sorry about that" he said with a grimace, "I sometimes overestimate people's strength", but to his surprise the man simply laughed "Ahh don't worry about him, he's had plenty worse than that. In all accounts I am Makarov Dreyar, Fairy Tail's guild master."  
"Rad, I guess you're the guy I talk to, to join?" Natsu said, visibly relaxed, he could feel the amount of power emanating from the Master now and got the feeling he wouldn't want to be around if anyone at the guild got badly hurt. "Most certainly boy, you look like you will fit in here perfectly, if you will, then go visit Mirajane, our barmaid. She will give you our guild mark and deal with the paperwork" at the mention of that the Master started chuckling darkly. "Cheers old man, this place looks like it's gonna be great."

"Hey are you Mirajane? The old man pointed me over this way to join your guild." Natsu asked, the woman he was speaking to looked up suddenly, slightly startled, she was in a long pink dress and had white hair down to the small of her back, a tiny ponytail dangling over her forehead. "Oh you want to join? How wonderful! I love it when we get new members and from what we saw before you look powerful." She gabbled out quickly with a smile, "Cheers" replied Natsu, but looked at her worriedly, her eyes had the look of someone suffering and something about her smile looked fake. "Are you alright there Mirajane?" he asked, again snapping her out of her reverie. "Oh. Ah. Yes of course! Where would you like your guild mark?" Natsu frowned but decided to leave her be, after all it's not like anyone here knew him yet or indeed trusted him. "I'd like it on my right shoulder please." He stated and she rushed off to grab the stamp, leaving him in a lull of sound for the first time since he turned up. "Hey there hot stuff" came a rather slurred voice "My names Cana, what should I call you?" The woman started tracing a finger down Natsu's chest "I'm uh Natsu" he replied, trying to pry her off "and you are drunk."  
"Girls gotta live a little" she said giggling, but then a rather sharp voice cut her off "I would appreciate it if you don't manhandle the new members Cana." Mirajane was back, stamp in hand and now she was glaring at Cana with a look that could kill puppies. "Oh I didn't realise you had already claimed him Mira, I'll leave you two be." And then Cana drifted off with a huge shit-eating grin. "Anyway" stuttered Mirajane, flushed, "here you go." Once the stamp pulled away Natsu got a look at his emblem, the Fairy Tail insignia in crimson red, outlined in deep black. "Thanks a lot Mirajane, can you get me through all the boring stuff now?" He said with a grin, "Please. Call me Mira, everyone else does"  
"'Kay Mira let's get the ball rolling."

 **Three months later**

Life at Fairy Tail had settled into a routine for Natsu, but a nice one, he would get up about five o'clock, train for an hour or two, head to the guild, talk to Mirajane, fight with Gray and often take a job, rarely taking more than a couple days to do so. He was drinking his usual cup of coffee and chili when a scream could be heard from outside "EEEEEERRRRRZZZZZAAAAAAAA!"  
Natsu started to get up but was stopped by Mirajane's hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry it's just one of our S-Class mages returning" Natsu nodded in understanding, "Like Sparks up there" he gestured upwards before giving the bird to where he knew the lightning mage was standing. A low growl emanated from up there but Laxus didn't make a move. "Well this one sounds like a handful." commented Natsu and Mirajane only smiled in agreement "That's one word for it". Natsu grinned, he had heard about Mirajane's rival in S-Class and from the tone of her voice it sounded like this Erza. 'Should be fun to watch' he thought to himself, but decided to say nothing. The doors crashed open with a bang, and silhouetted in the doorframe was a heavily armoured girl and a cart the size of a small house. "Jesus, what's she doing with that thing? Moving a whole village?" Natsu whispered in Mira's ear, causing her to giggle. "GRAY!" screamed the woman, "Yes ma'am!", Natsu snickered, "WHY DID YOU STRIP IN FRONT OF YOUR EMPLOYER THIS TIME!"  
"I… I don't know Erza" he stuttered, but she was already berating the next member; Wakaba, Cana, Levy, Droy, Macao. Her gaze fell on Natsu "Oh who're you?" She asked, her question was innocent enough but there was an underlying threat of violence in her tone which pissed Natsu off. 'I think I'll mess around with her first' He thought. "I don't know. Who're you?" He replied with a smirk. Jaws dropped in the guild and Erza's face began reddening. "What do you think you are doing speaking to me like that?" She almost screamed, "Not too much" replied Natsu, still enjoying himself immensely, "I just don't respond well to people who command respect with brute force. And you have got quite the reputation for that." Erza was now deathly silent and many members were praying for the new kid's life. In fact the only ones who weren't were Mirajane and Laxus, who chuckled to himself, "Kids got balls" he muttered and headed out, grabbing a flyer. Mirajane simply sent a sickly sweet smile at her former rival. Erza stalked over and hissed in Natsu's face "I do not appreciate being treated as such." She barely held back her rage. A few members sagged in relief, if the kid apologised now the most he would get is a couple broken bones. "Then don't treat me that way either" calmly replied Natsu, pushing away her face with a finger. Wakaba fainted from shock and Gray watched from the side-lines, silently cheering that he could finally see Fire Breath get beaten up. There was an intake of breath, the guild was silent, and Erza's fist rocketed forwards with the force of a small freight train. And then it was stopped. The guild thudded to the floor in shock, Macao followed Wakaba's example and Mirajane laughed in delight. There was Natsu, with the most casual look in the world and had simply stopped Erza with a simple block. The shock stretched out for several more moments. Then the guild exploded with applause. "Free drinks on me guys!" Yelled Natsu and the resulting cheer shook Magnolia. Leaving Erza standing there looking like someone had found her off button. "The names Natsu by the way."

The sun had risen quite early the next day and as it drifted over the forests surrounding Magnolia it highlighted a large circle of destruction roughly two miles from the city. Suddenly a wash of heat shot out of the area, baking nearby trees to a crisp. Moments after a pillar of flame erupted from the circle, the size of three buildings side by side and stretched upwards out of sight. It remained for roughly forty seconds before it died away. But then more flashes of flame shot out in different patterns, blades of heat slicing through the ground like butter. The occasional flash of light waking even the heaviest of sleepers and sent all animals fleeing. Master Makarov frowned, the display of magic was staggering but he couldn't quite identify it. Finally something made up his mind for him. A ball of flame, the size of a small dog rose into the air, it began growing whiter and whiter and even so far away the heat began affecting the guild's master and soon he was sweating profusely. The ball was getting hotter and hotter and now was no longer a flame. The ball of superheated plasma began fusing the gas in the air together and if it wasn't for the sheer amount of magical energy emanating from the mage controlling this spell then most of Magnolia would simply be dust. Then a spell echoed out and it made even the Wizard Saint tremble "Fire Dragon's Secret Art: Helios' Conflagration of Seven Sins" the ball of plasma elongated into a blade and compressed smaller and smaller until it was the size of a normal sword. A human figure rose to where the blade was and grabbed it. The resulting attack was faster than anyone could follow and everything was silent until the entire area exploded. The area was blasted with heat and the fire roaring from the area filled the sky with light brighter than the sun. It was roughly twenty minutes before they died down and the master panted with effort. He had been holding away the spell with all of his magical energy and it was barely enough. He looked around in worry, Laxus was off on a quest, Gildarts was who knows where and Erza had left with Gray and a new member Lucy to investigate a dark guilds activities. Then he spotted Mirajane at the bar. "Mira thank god you are here brat. I know you don't do quests anymore but you are the only one remotely qualified to go near whoever cast that, please go investigate." Mira looked up in surprise, but nodded. "Of course master, I'll return as soon as possible."

Mirajane gasped in shock at who stood in the centre of the devastation, "NATSU?!" She screamed, he looked and waved, "Oh hey Mira, sorry I didn't turn up today, I needed to finish learning a move." She nodded dumbly, "That was you?" She asked incredulously, "Yup" he grinned, "It was a good work-out, I never get to use those levels of spells, no one survives the first stage of casting unless they are least SS-Class, or at least that was what Igneel told me." Mira could only gape, "I… Uh… Let's go explain to the master."


	2. Chapter 2

Master Makarov frowned at the boy and girl sitting in front of him. "A Dragon Slayer? I thought that they were extinct, and the dragons that taught them were as well." Natsu shook his head, pink locks covering his expression, "No not extinct. Just gone. Dragon Slayer magic is a Lost Magic now." Natsu's face was blank, but there was a look in his eyes, a tense, shielded look that Mirajane knew all too well. "Well then!" the Master exclaimed, a grin spreading across his face, "Let's announce the news! Can you imagine the requests our guild will get now? With a Dragon Slayer! And the jewels." An almost sinister look spread on his face at the thought of all that money. "NO..." shouted Natsu, then coughed embarrassedly, "Sorry Master, but… Well things have never gone well for me when people find out about my magic, and I've already had run-ins with the Council and its Research Division" a look of disgust flitted through his eyes. The Master's grin dropped for a moment and then grew even wider "But of course Natsu! At Fairy Tail we are family and Mirajane and I will protect your secret as long as you need." Natsu bowed in appreciation, "Thank you so much Master, I will not betray your trust. Time for another…" Natsu sniffed the air, where did he know that scent from? His face went as pale as a ghost. "Oh god not him" he muttered, "Anyone else please."  
"Not who?" Confusion covered Mirajane's face. "YOOUUURR PAAARRRRFFUUUUUUUUMM! MAANNN" echoed around the guild, the following scream answered by what sounded like a furious and creeped out Erza yelling "YOU CREEPY MAN STAY AWAY!" Natsu was no longer pale but instead a nauseous green, his cheeks puffed out. "What's wrong Natsu?" Mirajane asked worriedly, running her hands through his hair in the hope that it would help, and definitely no ulterior motives whatsoever crossing her mind. A blush crept over her face anyway and her scowl at herself didn't last. Oblivious to the situation there came a croak from Natsu "So… many… smells… why that guy needs so many no one knows. The only thing worse is…" A gasp of pain escaped him, "transport…" with that he fainted. The voice of none other than Blue Pegasus' Ichiya drifted through the doorway, "I am sorry beloved Erza, however the perfume of fate separates our binding love. Man! I have been sent by Master Bob to exchange perfumes with Makarov. Farewell! Man!" Natsu collapsed to the floor, unsupported by a thoroughly weirded out Mira. Master Makarov turned to her, "You two better get out of here, it must be pretty serious guild business if Blue Pegasus sent their Ace as a messenger boy."  
"Yes of course Master" replied Mirajane respectfully as she began dragging Natsu out of the door, "However I get the feeling he volunteered." With that the door closed behind her and Ichiya entered.

"Hey flame for brains wanna fight? Wait what happened to him?" Gray wandered over and immediately began laughing at Natsu's inert body, "Hey leave him alone, it's something to do with the Blue Pegasus' smell" however Mira's argument was completely ruined by the fact that she had a huge grin directed at the unconscious fire mage. A groan made its way up to them, "What's that Natsu?" He moaned again, but then managed to get out a choice few curses before muttering, " **Fall** " sending Gray smashing into the ground from ropes of fire, "Teach you to laugh at me when I'm asleep" came the mutter from Natsu. This time however the Ice Mage was able to push back up through the fire. A look of astonishment crossed Gray's face but instantly transformed into a confident smirk "Guess that trick isn't as strong as you made it out to be huh Flame Breath?"  
"Screw you Ice Princess, I'm already running on empty from that spell, before and I'm still able to floor you." Gray narrowed his eyes at the challenge "Oh really Hothead? What spell is that?"  
"It's called **None-of-your-fuckin'-business** you stripper" replied Natsu, still sprawled over Mirajane, but neither made moves to complain. Gray snorted in derision "Whatever you say, candle lighter." Natsu simply growled in response, making Gray laugh. "Later then. Enjoy cuddling your new girlfriend."  
"HE/SHE IS NOT MY GIRLFRIEND/BOYFRIEND" came the reply, but it was just directed at the middle finger of the retreating Gray. "As fun as this is." Commented Natsu, causing a huge blush to spread on Mirajane's cheeks, "I could really do with some fresh air, come see me later if you want." He stood up and re-adjusted his scarf before heading out.

Mirajane found Natsu sitting on the other side of the lake, facing Fairy Tail. "Sorry about not telling you Mira. I've done stuff I am not proud of and people have treated me so differently because of who and what I am." To his surprise Mirajane just nodded. "I know how it feels Natsu and to be honest I understand. I know you want to be treated normally, that's how I felt after… my sister's death." Natsu nodded, "What was she like?" Mira blinked a bit, not sure how to respond. "Well she was always cheerful, she could make everyone happy, she was everyone's little sister really, even Laxus was nice to her and you know him. Back then I was different, I guess you would call it punk-rock. But I'm not the Demon of Fairy Tail anymore." Natsu chuckled at that "I would have loved to have seen you like that Mira." She blushed and smiled, "Well Natsu, if you are calmer now the Master said he found a job that might be perfect for you."  
"Cheers Mira, I owe you one, oh and by the way if you ever get bored of the barmaid gig I'd love to go on a job with you. It'd be fun to work with 'The Demon of Fairy Tail'" He grinned evilly and Mira realised too late what she had done, "Oh god you are never going to drop that are you?"  
"Nope" he replied cheerfully "But I can think of some variations if you want."  
"Thanks." She replied sarcastically, but it was slightly ruined by her blush at being invited to doing jobs with him. "I…I'll see you later then Natsu" she stuttered. His grin only widened at her discomfort, then he sat up and started to head towards the guild "See you in a bit Miss Demon" saluting her lazily. Mira was still blushing when all of a sudden she realised something "HOW AM I MEANT TO DO QUESTS WITH YOU IF I DON'T HAVE MAGIC?" She yelled to the retreating figure of Natsu, "SURE YOU DON'T" came the reply "YOU PRACTICALLY REEK OF POWER, THE BAR SMELLS LIKE A LACRIMA" and with that he was gone, leaving Mira to frown, 'What does he mean by that?' She shrugged, Fairy Tail looked like it had a lot to gain from Mr Dragneel.

Natsu knocked on the Master's door sharply, "Come in" the Master called out. "Mira said you wanted me?" he asked curiously. "Yes Natsu, learning about your power reminded me of some jobs I had been unable to post on the board because of their requirements and I am more than certain you fit the categories perfectly. It will be interesting to see what you are capable of and from the sound of it you will be glad to stretch your wings a bit." Natsu grew a huge, toothy grin. "Alright Master! You are the boss! What have you got for me?" Makarov chuckled at the infectious enthusiasm, "Take a look at this then, a Dragon cult in the far west mountains, 'would prefer those with natural resistance to fire and smoke, and enhanced tracking abilities… reward told upon completion.'" Natsu didn't even register the message about reward, "This thing sounds designed for me" he beamed, tapping the side of his nose, "I know Natsu, that's why I am sending you. Oh and may I suggest you tell Mirajane that you're going, it'll take at least a fortnight and even when you are only gone a couple of days she sulks the whole time." Natsu nodded, and then caught a mischievous twinkle in the Master's eye "Are you implying something Master?" the Master simply grinned wider. "Me? Imply something? Never!" his face the very picture of teasing, "I'm just glad she has finally found a guy for her" he said under his breath. Natsu scowled, "I can hear pretty much anything in a ten metre radius old man, just remember that." The Master didn't reply, only sent a huge shit-eating grin. "Anything else I should know about this quest Master?"  
"Not really, but if you need any gear of any kind then look out for the Anvil and Needle. The guild buys its majority of clothing and weaponry from there." Natsu grinned again "Sounds good, at the very least I could do with some knives for close combat."

Natsu groaned in agony as the train began moving, normally he avoided transport like the plague, but otherwise walking would add about four days to the mission and for some reason he didn't want to leave the guild any longer than necessary, he had made more than his fair share of friends there, some closer than others, a flash of white flitted through his thoughts and he enjoyed what he had there, teasing Gray, battling Erza, drinking Cana under the table and generally hanging around with Mira. The train rocked slightly and knocked him out of his own 'train of thought' with a painful bang. "Just nine more hours of agony and then I'm there" he croaked out before collapsing in his seat, he didn't need to worry about passing out as he had paid an assistant to carry him out once they stopped and without any reason to further his pain he dropped out of consciousness. Natsu's shoulders were being shaken a lot and eventually his eyelids shot open, "I'm really sorry sir but I got you off the train as requested but then you collapsed to the ground kissing it and fell asleep and I couldn't leave you there." Natsu grinned in appreciation, "Cheers man! Here, please take it. You're a decent guy." He handed over a handful of notes, "Sir, I couldn't possibly…"  
"You can, you will, that's the last I will hear of it." Natsu pushed the notes into the assistant's hands. He stood up and his grin widened "And call me Natsu!" He yelled over his shoulder as he jogged away.  
Natsu looked around the town of Mountain's Crest curiously, he had a couple of hours to kill and he was starving. "Look mum, that man has pink hair like my friend!" he heard a little girl whisper to his left, glancing behind him he sent a classic smile "Its salmon silly, and you should tell your friend as well!" The girl blushed bright "Sorry Mr Salmon Hair" she piped out, he grinned and looked over at the mum, "I'm sorry she is normally polite sir." She bowed deeply, "Don't even stress" he grinned and ruffled the little girls hair "And I insist you call me Natsu." The woman bowed again, "even so Mr Natsu I feel bad." She held out her hands in apology, "Nonsense, if you really feel bad you can just tell me a decent restaurant around here" he replied, the woman nodded quickly "Of course, just take a left and…"  
After getting directions to an amazing curry house and spending what felt like a small fortune on dinner, Natsu found himself heading towards the house of the employer. 'Still nowhere near as good as the stuff Mira serves at the guild though' he thought with a small smile, 'wonder what they are doing.'

Back at the guild there was of course, a huge brawl commencing with Mirajane looking on wistfully, 'Hurry up and get back here you silly boy' echoed in her head, smiling at the conversation they had had before he left for his quest.

"Hello sir" said Natsu as he bowed to a man dressed smartly in a suit and tie, who smiled back graciously, "Please head on through to the lounge, I'll explain there." Natsu nodded in understanding and stepped through the doorway. "Please, sit" said the employer and after they both did so he began. "What you must understand is that that cult has harassed our village for months now and it's only gotten worse since they got hold of a dragon lacrima." Natsu scowled at the mention of those, the magical devices were barbaric in his view and had been confirmed to be so from his experiences with them, trapping a dragon soul in crystal. What monster thought of that! Shaking his head slightly he motioned to his employer to continue "As I said they have been using that lacrima to power weapons that can hurt even a high A-Class mage and now they have been experimenting with animals on it. None of them were able to bond with the lacrima so now they have resorted to crude, inhuman methods to get the perfect weapon. Natsu's scowled deepened. "Alright, I understand what's happening now. What information do you have on them?" It was now the man's turn to scowl, "They always get to the edge of the village before vanishing." Natsu nodded, he had figured that their location wasn't known, it had been hinted at with the requirement for tracking. "Do you have anything with their scent?"  
"Scent?" confusion spreading over the employers face. "Part of my magic" Natsu simply replied, "Oh okay" the man nodded. He stood up and rushed out of the room and after a couple moments he was back in the room holding a cloak. "This snagged on a tree when they were leaving once. Does this work?" Natsu took it from the man's outstretched hand before memorising the scent. "This is perfect thank you, I will start immediately." The man bowed deeply, "Thank you so much sir."  
"Not a problem, it is my job after all."

Natsu stood in the forest taking deep breaths, trying to regain the scent, it was fairly old and had been masked, however poorly, so was taking more effort than usual. Thankfully the cultists apparently had enough confidence in their masking magic to not bother with doubling back or any other techniques that could mess with Natsu's progress. Suddenly he caught the scent again and restarted his steady pace, silent on dead leaves and moss. Two hours later and he was stood in front of the gaping maw of a cave. "Way to play on the clichés guys" Natsu muttered and headed in, not needing a source of light. Murmuring voices lead him through a labyrinth of tunnels and caves until he reached the entrance of a large room, lit by flickering firelight. Gently he began to inhale, tendrils of flame trailing through the ground until they reached his mouth. Slowly the room darkened until it was pitch black and Natsu grinned before stifling a burp. 'Not bad' he thought to himself, 'bit too much charcoal, but good.' An annoyed yell came from a man entering from the opposite side of the room. "Goddamnit who let the fire out?" as he stomped into the room, two subordinates followed him in sheepishly. "We don't know, we haven't been here for hours." They said in synchronisation. 'Shit.' Natsu thought, 'Only telepaths talk like that' and with that he threw up his barriers, compensating against their numbers with added magic power. 'Okay let's sort this out before they realise something is off.' Quietly he muttered " **Silence, bind, fall** ". The three cultists were forced to the floor, bound and gagged by a low flame. Silently he drew himself up and efficiently knocked them all out with quick blows to the head before heading out the way they came in.  
Clearing out the cave system had taken Natsu roughly an hour, however there was one room he had been putting off until now, simply because of the magic power emanating from the room. He listened intently next to the door, there were five people in there and they confirmed some of the things he had heard while dealing with their comrades. 'Suitable test subject in the village huh? Well they aren't getting that chance.' He sighed "Guess I don't need the subtle approach anymore" he grinned devilishly "And about time to."

"What do you reckon the priest is thinking" muttered the grunt guarding the door, "Ah well at least I'm not the one late to his meeting…" He frowned, what was that noise? A burning? The door in front of him exploded and standing in front of the guard was what looked to him a demon. Fire wrapped and flickered around his arms and a shock of pink hair covered the demon's eyes, leaving the only expression visible a huge devilish grin that shook the guard's very core. " **Ignite** " said the demon and the entire room erupted into flames, knocking out the guard and his three friends instantly. "Hmm so you are the one responsible for delaying my meeting?" boomed a voice from the centre of the room, "Are you the priest?" asked Natsu, a raging fury suppressed in his voice. "Yes, but more importantly, I am your death!" The priest sent out a torrent of flame towards Natsu, confident he had already won. The slurping sound from the attack threw him and all of a sudden he was staring in shock at the completely unharmed wizard "My turn!" sang Natsu with a grin. "Hell, I'm already bored with this mission, I wanna head back as quickly as possible. Let's get you out of the way. **Fire Dragons Wing Attack** " Flames coated Natsu's arms and he whirled around, slashing at the man stood in front of him, who barely blocked it with his staff. "I WILL NOT GO DOWN SO EASILY TO A BOY! **PUNISHMENT OF THE OLD GODS: DESTRUCTION FROM THE PIT!** " Shadow, flame and smoke poured at Natsu, knocking the wind out of him. Natsu scowled, "Cocky old man. I'm done here. **Fire Dragon's Ignited Fists** " and threw the devastating attack forward. But too late he noticed the evil smirk on the priest's face. "You lost when you threw that move. **Brand of the Hidden Demon** " Smoke enveloped Natsu's body and he screamed in pain, a skull with ram horns burned into the skin of his hip. The priest laughed maniacally, but was cut off with a grunt. The attack Natsu had thrown connected with the man's jaw throwing him through four walls and embedding him in the side of the mountain. "Stupid man" Natsu grunted in agony, and noticed a bright red lacrima on a pedestal. " **Break** " he muttered as he coughed up black blood. 'Shit.' He thought for the second time that night. Then darkness enveloped him.

 _ **Yo guys its lmao here, thanks for all the faves/follows and reviews it really helps. I enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope you did as well. I can confirm the pairing will be NaMi, but I'll try to write it with a fair bit of humour and not make the lovey-dovey stuff sickly. Until next time. Bye!**_


	3. Chapter 3

Natsu opened his eyes groggily, his hip burned and felt as though something was coiling through his blood. Blinking rapidly he looked around, trying to figure out where he was, his wrists and ankles were chained to a huge rack, gears and chains in complicated patterns, Natsu frowned, this was not good. Then the pain on his hip flared and darkness embraced him.

"Are you sure you want to attempt the procedure? With the magic of the curse you lay on him? It would most likely kill him, worse, it might damage the lacrima." An impassive voice drifted in from a shadowed figure. The priest simply smirked evilly. "That bastard deserves the pain, besides, the power we could gain from this. It's unfathomable!" Power glinted in pits of steel-grey eyes, "This boy… This Dragon Slayer! He is the key to my research! Soon I will be ready."

Natsu woke again, but did not open his eyes. Instead he listened intently and silently began planning his next moves. "Foreign magic… kill… lacrima" Natsu's face furrowed, they were going to experiment on him! How dare they chain a dragon! His body temperature rose, higher and higher. Then cut short. And Natsu scowled "Fucking magical restraints." He muttered. "Begin the procedure" a thin reedy voice rang out. Natsu heard a saw whirring and then all he felt was pain. Pain as a cut was formed in the left side of his stomach, flesh tearing against steel, hot, thick blood dripping down his side. The pain only grew worse as he then felt his magic being drained out of the cuffs restraining him. He would not scream. They would not have the satisfaction. He would not scream. Cold crystal was placed next to the cut. He would not scream. The flesh was pushed open and new magic began forcing its way into his body not caring about damage, tearing open huge new magical pathways, then another presence made itself known, this was a different pain, it was a dull ache, that promised power and joy and freedom like nothing else, and all it wanted in return was access to his magic as well. Then the lacrima's magic met this new force. And Natsu screamed. The scream did not falter, it grew in pitch and volume until it drowned out the pain, and the other magic and now all Natsu felt was rage. His magic flared up, barely aware of himself he poured his anger and hatred out in all directions, the lacrima shattered, but it's magic did not leave, it was consumed by Natsu's and reformed, absorbed and grew. Then the new presence appeared, like a wall in front of a knife. It pushed back at Natsu's force, no longer subtle whispers but screams of threats to Natsu, to his magic, his body and his mind. Then the knife grew to a sword, then an axe, then a hammer and then it was an avalanche of power, rolling over what had been an unsurmountable barrier. The presence burned, but its power remained and then that too was consumed. Natsu's eyes snapped open and burned with rage. "YOU WOULD CHAIN ME? DEFILE MY MAGIC? TAKE AWAY MY NEW FAMILY?" His voice grew deeper, the room rumbling in the presence of such unbridled power, "YOU WILL BE PUNISHED FOR YOUR SINS! **IN THE EYES OF THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH, THE MIGHTY AND THE LOW I SENTENCE YOU, HOW DO YOU PLEAD?** " Raw magic was rolling off him in waves now. Forcing everyone to their knees, one cultist whimpered. "Please… forgive us"  
The being that stood before them looked at the cultist, " **I SEE, YOU PLEAD GUILTY** " the cultists screamed. " **LET THIS BE YOUR PUNISHMENT** " the ground began shaking beneath the figure. Geysers of flame shooting up randomly. Unbeknownst to a certain priest hiding and whimpering in fear in a secret room, a magic seal covered the entire mountain. " **Flames from the Pit. Fire from the Suns. Converge on the Dragon. And Punish! FIRE DRAGON'S SECRET ART: INCINERATION OF THE DAMNED!** " The world went white, fire consumed the mountain with heat so intense there wasn't even sound. Then it was gone, mountain burned black and crumbling. And around Natsu the unconscious cultists were untouched. Natsu snorted, well apart from their magical containers, they were burned away permanently. "Just remember this rule Natsu, Fairy Tail never kills." He muttered under his breath, quoting Master Makarov. He looked around the mountain for a couple more moments, then in a burst of flame, he was gone leaving a message carved into the rock at the front of what left of the cave 'Send the reward onto Fairy Tail, sorry about the mountain, Natsu'.

Romeo had spent most of the day waiting for his dad to return from his quest and was sat on the curb miserably when he heard a recognisable yell. "GAH, WHY DO I ALWAYS APPEAR ABOVE MY DESTINATION?" and as Romeo watched, Natsu, trailing flames behind him, literally fell out of the sky into the pavement with a thud. "Uhh…" Romeo was about to start laughing at Natsu when he saw his injuries, a thirteen inch long wound, cauterised with fire, shards of a red crystal sticking out crossing Natsu's side and just below, on Natsu's hip, a brand of a skull, grimacing in pain, huge ram horns curling out of the side burnt into the skin and coloured a deep black. "WAKABA, BIG BROTHER IS HURT!" Romeo screamed.

Mira, Wakaba and Cana were all at the bar, listlessly drinking and silently hoping that something interesting would happen, well that was Cana and Wakaba's thoughts. Mirajane had been counting every day that Natsu was gone and even her normally cheery fake smile was nowhere to be found as she waited for the Dragon Slayer's return after three weeks of waiting. "WAKABA, BIG BROTHER IS HURT!" came a scream from outside the guild, Mira paled, there was only one person Romeo called big brother, they had hit it off almost immediately and when not talking with Mirajane or being on a request, you could normally find Natsu with Romeo planning pranks and practising fire magic. And if Romeo was worried, Mirajane really didn't want to think about it. Without even thinking she had already vaulted over the counter and was halfway out of the guild before the other two even registered what had happened. Sprinting outside Mirajane skidded into Romeo and seized hold of Natsu's unconscious body, tears were flowing freely now at the sight of him. 'So much damage to one body… How?' She screamed internally before gingerly lifting him up and began walking back into the guild. The shocked gasps of Cana and Wakaba had been ignored and she was now making her way up the stairs, treading as softly as she possibly could.  
Natsu lay on a large white bed in just trousers and his scarf. His abdomen and left arm were heavily bandaged and the remaining shards of crystal had been completely removed. The wounds were definitely going to scar, however they would be light. The one thing they could not treat was the brand burned on his hip and could only speculate at its meaning. Porlyusica had stood firm on no guests this time when treating him and had said there were at least two major foreign magic's in his system and countless minor ones. The smaller power signatures would fade after a few more hours rest, but the only way to deal with the large ones was to allow his magic to incorporate them as the healer said he had already been doing. "He'll recover, stupid human though he may be. He just needs rest" and that was all else they could make her say. The Master had been worried sick and blamed himself for sending Natsu, but the others convinced him that no way would Natsu blame him, as it just wasn't his way. Mirajane hadn't left Natsu's side at all for three days except for essentials and simply slept in the chair next to him, Wakaba and Cana gladly took charge of the bar to help her and for once Cana didn't even sneak alcohol while on the job. She just had an extra-large helping of brandy in her morning coffee. Gray and Erza were out on a job with Lucy and so none of them even knew yet, but the rest of the guild came up every now and again to check on Natsu and Mira. It was about four nights in when the guild got a huge delivery addressed to Natsu, with a small note attached saying the jewels had been deducted because of the damage to the mountain. As Master Makarov read this his laughter became hysterical. "A MOUNTAIN? EVEN GILDARTS DIDN'T…" his next few words were largely unintelligible, drowned out by his laughter, however some made their way through. "Monster… OH GOD… THE MONEY", his reaction brightened the guild slightly, but then they remembered what had happened and their small grins fell away.

The light was way too bright in Natsu's opinion. Even with eyes closed it burned into his skull, which by the way felt currently like the main drummer at a metal concert played by gorillas. "Mira close the fuckin' curtains…" he mumbled and groaned in agony, the Dragon Slayer had woken up in the guild hall a few times and often Mira was the only one there so early so she was regularly helping him with either a hangover or some bruises from the day before. "NATSU?!" Screamed someone in his ear. "OOOOOOWWWW" He yelled back, "Jesus I have a headache here!"  
"OH MY GOD YOU'RE FINALLY AWAKE! HOW DO YOU FEEL? WHAT HAPPENED ON THAT REQUEST? WHY DO YOU HAVE FOREIGN MAGIC IN YOU…?" Natsu's eyes finally opened to see Mirajane's face directly above his. "You planning on staying there all day?" He asked with an eyebrow raised. Mirajane's face turned crimson and she stuttered out an answer about just being excited about his recovery. "So what am I doing here?" He asked after she calmed herself down, "You were unconscious for a couple of days after you collapsed in front of Romeo, we were really worried those last couple of weeks after you didn't turn up after five days like you promised…" her voice trailed off as Natsu's expression went dark. "THOSE BASTARDS HAD ME FOR TWO WEEKS?" Fire began flowing out of his body, his magic pressure intensifying, then he stopped as Mirajane lightly slapped him "No way mister, no magic for the next four days, as per Porlyusica's orders, you have two major foreign magic's in your body and it has been assimilating them, you do anymore damage and that's you done." A frown flitted over her face, her large smile clearly strained with worry, Natsu noticed her mood and quickly spoke up, "I was there for two weeks Mira I was just trying to purge any leftovers of whatever they did to me" Mirajane laughed, "Well duh, you idiot, that's what we first checked for. All the minor interferences are gone, we are just waiting to see how your magic is going to cope with the foreign ones." Natsu leaned in close to her face and smiled softly, "I'll be fine Mira, I promise." Mira's face was doing a pretty damn good impression of Erza's hair at that moment, their faces were centimetres apart, and all she had to do was lean in and… Mirajane blinked and realised what she was doing, "I… Uh… Yeah… Of course" Mirajane wasn't sure how but she now knew that Natsu felt strongly about her and now with his magic off bounds for four whole days she could finally make some progress. She could feel a smile forming as she began planning.

Outside the medical rooms the guild heard muffled yells of delight and grinned at the now obvious recovery of Natsu, the grins only widened as he and Mirajane walked out together, her face beet red and a smile bigger than anyone had ever seen. "NATSU" came the delighted yell from the guild hall and it took all of five seconds for Master Makarov to announce a party celebrating his return and recovery, Natsu dodged three flying chairs on the way down the steps and looked up as someone bellowed, "GETTING BETTER FROM INJURIES IS MANLY!" Shaking his heads he made his way over to the Master who began speaking as soon as Natsu got close enough, "I am terribly sorry Natsu, this is my fault, I didn't know your skill level properly and…" He was cut off by Natsu, "No way old man, you better keep these quests coming, it's been years since I've been able to stretch myself so much, it's my fault for being arrogant and that is why I was caught, I've definitely learned from this. Besides those fights got me fired up!" The Master frowned and then chuckled as he found himself agreeing with the brat. "Alright, but make the trips where you are late a rarity. I don't think Mirajane's heart could take seeing you with those injuries again." Natsu bowed, "Of course Master" and as he turned to head into the party behind him his hand was caught by Mirajane's. "Mira?" He asked curiously. She flushed again, "I… Uh… Well as you aren't gonna be able to go on quests for a few days I just thought that maybe we could spend a bit more time together." Her voice gained confidence as she spoke and she smiled as Natsu grinned, "You read my mind Mira, we haven't talked as much as I would have liked so this'll be perfect, plus I wanted to relax and I can't really do that here" he jerked a thumb over his shoulder at a brawl that had begun in the centre of the guild. Even though many would argue it wasn't actually physically possible, Mirajane's smile grew wider and she tugged at his hand, leading him off to her first place planned.

In the next four days that Natsu spent with Mirajane he learnt a lot about her life and she learnt about his, shocked by the tough standard of training and almost brought to tears learning about his abandonment. "Did you ever get close to finding him?" her voice was low as she leant against his chest, warmth spreading against her back, they were back at their spot across the lake, they had visited plenty of places over the last four days but this was their favourite. "No, to be honest I don't think he wants to be found, not yet anyway. So instead I promised to myself I would get revenge on the bastards that hurt him." Natsu's voice was thick with anger and sorrow as he reflected on his life. "Who was that Tsu?" Mirajane used her pet name for him, but her curiosity was still there. "Igneel taught me about when he was young, to give me a perspective on his magic. But there was a point when even he was hurt. The Three Demons they were called and they were the terror of thousands, they pre-dated Zeref and were the first real threat to the Dragons before the Slayers and Acnologia. They had killed so many Mira, the ground will always be stained by the blood they brought. Then one day they attacked Igneel, he had held them off for hours, but then they did the unthinkable and killed Igneel's mother. It had broken him and now I am going to break them." Natsu's face had hardened as if carved from stone and anyone could see that there was a deep-seated pain there. Then he glanced over at Mirajane's worried face and he softened, then laughed. "But until then I am going to have fun in life and see where it takes me. No point becoming obsessed when there's so much to see." Mirajane smiled softly, "So I was thinking we could go to…" a scream echoed across Magnolia and rolled across the surrounding land "BROTHER", a point of infinite darkness appeared miles away, then vanished. Natsu frowned, "Any idea what that was?" Mirajane shook her head "No sorry Natsu, but whatever it was it felt powerful.

The guild was fairly quiet at that time, Elfman and Grey had gone on a mission to do with defeating a wyvern in some caves, that is after shouting about manliness and rushing around looking for clothes, Erza had finished berating random guild members and was now sat at a table eating cheesecake delightedly. As the scream echoed past them many looked up in worry and more still frowned at the foreboding sense of power that followed, then they resumed their daily activities, a voice could be heard from an ever increasing cloud of smoke, "No point worrying about it hey Macao. I'm sure someone will pick it up."

The guild doors slammed open with a bang. "WE'RE BACK!" came the yell from an extremely excited Natsu, "AND IT'S TIME FOR SOME FIRE" the guild looked over at the now fireball that stood at the entrance to the guild. Then everyone noticed something else, in the fire that surrounded Natsu a shape was forming, it looked like a bird. The fire flickered crimson and the bird let out an ear-splitting screech, then it began fading and reformed into a symbol before vanishing completely, a grunt could be heard from Natsu and a deep red and orange glow emanated from under his shirt, surprised he undid the top few buttons and pulled back the shirt to get a better look, ignoring the almost ravenous stares from some members. On his left pectoral there was now a huge image of a phoenix, wings spread and fire spreading from its talons, emblazoned in black. "This is new" snorted Natsu, "It feels like the magic from that lacrima, guess it wasn't a dragon slayer lacrima after all." A mutter from Levy surprised everyone " _Fenikkusu_ " she said, "What Levy?" asked Jet and Droy simultaneously, " _Fenikkusu_ , it means phoenix in the old language. That is some extremely rare fire magic." Levy frowned, "I need to research this!" and with that she ran to the library, seconds later came the expected cry of, "WE'LL HELP YOU LEVY!" and the two male members of Team Shadow Gear ran off. "Phoenix hmm?" Natsu said thoughtfully, "Well now I have that Demon brand and this Phoenix? I should get one of a dragon, I can't let my original magic be disregarded." An evil grin spread across his face. "It would be disrespectful to Igneel otherwise. I need to find a decent tattooist! No the best!" He started running out of the guild, "SORRY GUYS, I'LL BE AROUND" then in a burst of flames he was gone.


	4. Chapter 4

The guild doors were slammed opened suddenly, "YO!" came the yell and several members looked up and grinned. "Oi Natsu! You still owe me a drinking match!" screamed Cana through a large barrel, "I'll put it on a rain check, okay?" he called back. "TATTOOS ARE MANLY" shouted _someone_ and Natsu simply grinned, "You know it Elfman" and pulled down the corner of his shirt revealing part of what was clearly a huge tattoo, the part showing was the roaring head of a dragon and the neck was shown to twist around his back, the rest hidden from sight. "My, my, Tsu, aren't you the little exhibitionist." Mirajane slyly said from the bar, "Nah that's the Snow globe's thing, Miss Succubus." He replied without missing a beat, Mirajane flushed light pink and started scrubbing the bar's surface twice as fast. "Pet names for each other hey?" whispered Cana, "Shame for me, I really wanted to give him a go." She giggled, dodging the beer mug chucked at her head. "I WILL CUT YOU OFF WOMAN!" Mirajane shouted after her, but apart from that the guild was calm. Then a voice that gave her shivers of delight spoke up next to her, "So where's tin-can and ice-princess?" asked Natsu, Mirajane giggled "Oh they left earlier with Lucy. Apparently Erza had heard something worrying about the dark guild they had been investigating, would have been about an hour ago now." Natsu simply nodded in understanding. "Interesting. Ah well, they can handle it, can you get me a fire whiskey Mira?" she nodded before sliding one over the counter. "You usually don't drink so early? Something wrong?" Natsu shrugged, "Nope, I think I just have been spending too much time around Cana." At the mention of her an almost invisible frown crossed Mirajane's face, but Natsu caught the look. He leaned forward gently and whispered into her ear, "You really shouldn't be so worried about her, but if you are then meet me later." He slid a note over the counter to her, "By the way, you smell great." Almost unconsciously Mirajane leaned further into Natsu and the scent of burnt cinnamon and wood smoke drifted past her, leaving Mirajane's face furiously red, "Not bad yourself." She choked out. Natsu just grinned, "I'll see you around."

Two hours later Mirajane walked into the guild with a worried expression, "Natsu did you hear? Oshibana has been taken over by the dark guild Eisenwald." Natsu frowned, "Eisenwald? Why do I know that name?" he muttered under his breath. "Is that guilds Ace a wind mage?" Natsu's teeth were gritted and shot out the question with barely concealed anger. "Yeah, Shinigami Erigor" replied Cana who had been listening intently. Natsu had a face like thunder, "I'll see you in a bit Mira". Then he was gone.

" **ICE MAKE: LANCE!** " shouted Gray, wiping out another ten or so Eisenwald mages, "Who would have thought dark guilds were this easy to take on?" he asked, almost incredulously, "Yes, it does seem odd that they are this weak, do you think Lucy's tracking spirit has found Erigor yet?" came the calm, almost emotionless reply from Erza as she dodged a blow, ducked low under an incoming blade and then swiftly sent a dagger slicing from the dark mage's hip to his shoulder. "Nothing yet guys" came a shout from Lucy a worried expression on her face, she had been training in combat and magic pretty much non-stop since she joined and was still only about as strong as a C-Class mage, even so she still held her own against the Eisenwald lot, which only increased Erza's sense of worry. "You guys do know he already left the building right" came a shout from outside, causing the three mages to freeze in place. "Don't stop on account of me guys, you'll get hurt." Said the voice, Team Erza remained stock still and the voice sighed, "Goddamn it people get your shit together, **Ignite** " the spell that was cast set aflame the remaining Eisenwald mages, including several that were about to strike as the mages were unresponsive. "Look, I'll deal with the Erigor dickhead, you lot have Eisenwald's S-Class to deal with, the shadow guy is meant to be tough, even for you Erza." Erza and the others finally unfroze and just as Gray opened his mouth to shout an insult the voice called out " **Silence** " and a rope of flame bound Gray's mouth. "Don't even try it pretty boy" the voice yelled out, "I'd get a move on by the way he set up some kind of…"a roar of wind exploded up as the entire building was surrounded by air circulating with the force of a hurricane. Natsu sighed as he walked away from the huge barrier between him and his guildmates. 'Probably could remove that.' He thought 'But it would take too much time and energy, besides it takes ice-prick out of the equation which is always a bonus.' He sniffed the air, picking up a faint scent of blood and an aura similar to the calm before the storm. Natsu cracked his knuckles as he began flitting ahead, a couple hundred metres at a time, following the scent. "Time for some payback you bastard" he grunted.

The air was still, a huge ravine lay to each side of the tracks and Natsu waited patiently, stood calmly in centre waiting for Erigor, he had tracked the wind mage and decided to stop him further along the track where he could minimise damage to the surrounding area. It didn't take long. In the distance Natsu could see a figure heading his way, a tattered cloak flapping around a chest decorated with tribal patterns, dirty white hair flowing upright in a powerful air current and finally there was a huge scythe resting on his shoulders. "Oi Erigor!" shouted Natsu, "You really think you were going to get away with attacking a train station and then legging it? Cause you are dumber than I originally thought if you do." His voice carried across the vast empty space surrounding the pair and set a scowl on the approaching mages face "Dragneel. Didn't think we would be seeing each other again, especially after the mess that was the Bosco mission." It was Na's turn to scowl, "We going to be fighting yet or are you going to make some kind of god awful monologue?" Wind whipped in ever increasing speeds, swirls of air building up around Erigor. Natsu rolled his neck to side, a sharp crack sounding out and magic pressure began oozing out, cracking the floor and rocketing the surrounding temperature. Then Natsu grinned, "Let's finish this thing quickly today okay? I've a got date later tonight and I would hate to be late."  
"Of course, I can understand you would prefer death to angering Mirajane of Fairy Tail, I guess I'm doing you a favour." The area was silent, except for wind swirling around the two mages. The tension snapped and the two mages began releasing magical pressure. Wind snapped back and forth sending Natsu's hair and scarf rippling out, the ground cracked and burned, the iron railings of the train tracks below beginning to melt slightly, warping from intense heat and pressure. Natsu squinted his eyes and prepared his spells. A shout came from Erigor " **Storm Blade!** " sending Natsu rolling away to avoid a torrent of air sharp enough to slice steel to dust. Gathering air around him and centring his magic into his abdomen, the air became scorching and a roar sounded loud enough to be heard for miles, " **Fire Dragon's Roar!** " the pillar of flame blasting Erigor and streaming out into the sky.

" **Shadow Orochi: Knives of Eight Thousand Warriors"** Shadows were curling across Gray's skin, carving his flesh and blood trickling down his arms and chest and his teeth were gritted in pain, he launched forward, shattering the magic binding him " **Ice Make: Seven Slice Dance** " his forearms became encased in razor sharp icicles and his entire body whipped around again and again, fists and ice crashing into the opponent in front of him, the crunching of breaking bones filling the room and Gray's immediate vision consisted of blood and black hair, his or his enemies he didn't know. He didn't care, Lucy lay to one side with the tatters of a cloak keeping her modest, her face bruised and bloody. The final strike snapped across the enemies face and he collapsed to the ground. Gray spat a glob of blood onto the inert body of the man lying in front of him in disgust, "Fucking shadow mage… Oi Erza we can get out by the way, Lucy's spirit dug a hole before she was… well anyway we should get going." The requip mage nodded in agreement, "Gray… Take her to the guild and make sure you stay safe yourself." Scarlet hair shook and hazel eyes flashed darkly. She stomped her foot into the Shadow Mage's face and ground her foot for a couple of seconds before jumping down the hole. Gray scowled before picking up Lucy gingerly and dropping down himself.

" **Fire Dragon's Iron Fist** " shouted Natsu in frustration, fire flaring even brighter and his fist rocketing into Erigor's arm, sheathed in wind. "Time to get serious I suppose Natsu, it was fun. **Storm Mail** " called Erigor, air currents intensified until Natsu was standing in a hurricane, his body battered by countless cutting edges of wind, he wiped a trail of blood from his chin "I suppose it is. **Fire Dragon's Claw! Fire Dragon's Talon! Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!** " The consecutive attacks rocked the already crumbling stretch of rock, wreathed in fire Natsu sent sweeping fists and feet at Erigor, each blow shattering bones and as if a dragon were there themselves the air became as still as a graveyard. Natsu smirked "Bye Erigor. **Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!** " he was sent rocketing forward, his head as solid as a boulder slamming into the open chest of the Storm Mage. Erigor was sent flying down into the ravine and his body collided with rocks at the bottom. A small wooden object clattered to the floor, somehow it hadn't been broken and landed on what remained of the train track and Natsu looked on in confusion. Its scent was just… _wrong_ and Natsu frowned as he dropped back to the unstable ground, heading towards it. Immense magic rolled out and Natsu paled slightly "Zeref…" he muttered softly "I should finish this one. **Dragon Slayer Master Art-** " more magic poured out of the object and the atmosphere had a sense of fear that was almost palpable. The wood began to warp and grow, almost looking desperate, quite a feat for something for something that wasn't remotely humanoid. " **Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade** " the torrent of fire spewed out, explosions down its length. It began to incinerate the wooden object and as Natsu cast his spell a roar of rage bellowed out before being cut short. A pile of ashes drifted off in a light breeze, then Natsu turned and left. What remained of the narrow stone bridge crumbled and fell.

Erza pumped more magic into the four-wheeler, desperate to catch Erigor and exact some _painful_ revenge when Natsu dropped in front of her, her car skidding to a halt. "Hey tin-can!" he smiled brightly and Erza scowled, but not as darkly as she could have, he had an infectious humour after all. "It's over. I got the Eisen-cock and burned his wooden play toy while I was there. That made Erza relax slightly "What you didn't leave anyone for me? I didn't get anyone fun." Natsu's smile only grin, "Look I need to get back anyway, I'll seeya, you should head back, I can smell that Lucy chick's blood on you, you probably want to check on her." Then fire spread up his body and he was gone again.

The guild was quiet when Natsu got back and he frowned, "Yo Gramps I need a chat." He shouted up before leaping up to the office. Roughly ten minutes later he left along with Makarov and both had satisfied if sad faces. "TODAY BRATS. ONE OF OUR OWN WAS HURT!" this caught the guilds attention and everyone went silent. "HOWEVER" continued the Master, "WE HAD A GREAT VICTORY AND NOT ONLY WIPED OUT A DARK GUILD BUT DESTROYED A DEMON OF ZEREF! THIS IS NOT A DAY A SADNESS BUT REASON TO CELEBRATE! WHO ARE WE?" A resounding roar came back that very nearly shook Magnolia. Within minutes people were drinking, partying and brawling and Natsu glanced around. A certain barmaid was cleaning a glass as she stood at the bar smiling softly. As always a voice spoke up behind her "Hey Mira." She jumped about three foot in the air "WHY! DO YOU! ALWAYS! SNEAK UP ON ME?" Natsu just laughed, "Because you do stuff like that. C'mon I have something special organised." And with that he dragged her out the front door.

The two were stood on a large hill overlooking Magnolia and there was a table set out with two chairs, a delicate white tablecloth covered it, silverware arranged neatly and a bottle of a vintage champagne stood in a cooler. Mirajane gasped in delight, covering her mouth with a hand "Natsu…" he grinned impishly and snapped his fingers. Fire sparked into the air, a dance of red and gold which swirled around before forming lines, which became a hair here, part of an ear there, all of a sudden there was a huge portrait of flame in the sky. Her and Natsu leaning together on a tree, their tree! The picture hung in the air for countless moments and Mirajane looked on in wonder. The portrait twisted and drifted away in the wind leaving Mira basking in happiness. She turned head to the side to see Natsu mere centimetres away, "Mira…" he whispered and she just grinned before shutting him up with a kiss. Lips as soft as a feather pressed against Natsu and the smell of lilacs filled his world. Time vanished for the two as the night stretched on.


	5. Chapter 5

By the next morning many Fairy Tail members were surprised to not see Mira already working at the bar bright and early and after nearly half an hour of waiting the doors burst open to reveal a very flustered looking Mirajane limp in as fast as she possibly could. "I'm so sorry Master I got caught up with... some personal affairs, it won't happen again." The grin on Makarov's face rivalled that of a sharks, "Not a problem my dear, I'm sure it was a very important reason and you deserve a break from the bar, why don't you relax for a while, you look tired. I'll get Cana to run the bar." The man managed to speak in such a suggestive tone that a blind and deaf man would understand what he was insinuating and the usually sharp Mirajane simply flushed. "Well… uh." Just in time to save her from further embarrassment however Natsu strolled in. "BACK GUYS!" he shouted, not noticing peoples grins and awkward stares until moments later. "What? Something on my face?" A round of nods filled the room. Cana tapped the side of her lip, then neck, then cheek, to show the areas in question. The things that had caught everyone's interest were four hickeys trailing down his neck, nail-like scratches on his face and large smudges of a _very_ familiar lipstick covering the side of his lip. "Oh uh… yeah! I woke up in a rush this morning and forgot to clean up because Mi… my scarf wasn't where I left it. Musta bumped into a wall or something on the way back, didn't realise I got scratched…" People's grins widened, except for one person who walked in behind Natsu, saw the state of him, people's smiles, Mirajane's bright red face and then put two and two together. Which granted was a rare occasion for them. "IT IS NOT MANLY TO…"  
"ELFMAN!" Mirajane cut off her little brother with a look that reminded everyone why she had been called She-Devil, "Don't interfere in big sis' business." A sickly sweet smile formed. "Kay? Because otherwise I will remove your balls with a spoon and some pliers. That goes for the rest of the guys. Girls. It's best you don't know what I will do." The guild member's faces turned ill and they hurried to look like they were busy with other business. "Well… uh anyway" said Natsu, "Want to go on a request with me Mira?" A few grins grew and then immediately faltered when they remembered Mira's threats and the hall quickly went back to its bustling self. Mirajane smiled, "Sure Natsu, tell you what I'll grab an S-Class, technically I still am one after all." Natsu returned her grin "All right! This'll be awesome!" Mirajane headed up the stairs and as she did so Romeo ran up to Natsu "Stay safe Big Bro! Otherwise I'll beat you up when you get back." He pouted cutely and Natsu simply smiled back, ruffling his hair. "Don't even stress Romeo, something like a little S-Class can't take me down, besides Mira's got my back if it goes wrong."  
"But Mira doesn't have magic!" Frowned Romeo to which Natsu grinned, "Oh trust me lil' bro I've got that sorted, we'll be back soon." Mirajane appeared next to Natsu, "Here we go a nice easy one, pays well. Wipe out a dark guild twenty miles out of Crocus that's been amassing power. We'll take the train." Natsu turned green "WHYY YOU DEMON!" He wailed, being dragged by the ear out of the guild.

A day later in came a _very_ annoyed knight, "NATSU! I DEMAND A PROPER FIGHT, I CANNOT ALLOW YOUR PERVERTED WAYS TO DISGRACE OUR GUILD ANY LONGER…" she cut off, looking around the guild, then grabbed Nab by the scruff of his shirt "Where is Natsu and Mira?" she shook him violently, "Uh… uh… th… they left y…yesterday… S-Class m…mission." Seemingly satisfied Erza stomped up the stairs to see which they had taken but then an angry yell came from upstairs. "MASTER! TWO S-CLASS MISSIONS ARE GONE!" A thunderous look appeared on Makarov's face, "Two? Natsu and Mira registered one and Mira was the only S-Class mage here… so who?"  
Erza's furious voice could be heard, "Master, where is Gray and Lucy?" an unsettling atmosphere filled the guild. "Which mission is gone?" asked the Master, "Galuna Island, there were rumours of a demon from the north." Makarov's face paled. "Deliora…?" he muttered, "This is bad Erza, go fetch them at once, the fact it is S-Class is bad enough but if my suspicions are correct… Go now!"  
"Of course Master" and with that the knight stomped out of the guild on the trail of the two now extremely unlucky mages.

"So Mira" started Natsu as the two mages made their way quietly down a forest path roughly headed to the dark guilds base of operations. "Yea Tsu?" Mirajane asked a note of curiosity in her voice, "I have an idea about releasing your magic, when you were in grieving you subconsciously suppressed your power, I know that much from Gramps and also I know that emotions can strongly influence magic. So there's two ways we could do this. An extreme emotional response to something could release it. Or my preferred method would be to burn the barrier with my magic, that by itself is actually pretty safe and you would only feel a minor irritation. But…"  
"But what?" Mira asked confused, she was pretty excited to get her magic back, especially if it meant that she could defend Natsu and go on more missions, bar duty had gotten pretty boring for her recently. "It would release your second origin. I met someone that had theirs released. Their description wasn't pretty. It hurts… a lot." Mirajane's reaction surprised Natsu. "Oh c'mon you really think a little pain would be enough to keep me down? If I couldn't take that to get my magic back n I don't deserve to be a Fairy Tail mage let alone an S-Class. Bring it Tsu!" she snorted. Quickly recovering from the slight shock Natsu grinned "Alright then your funeral." He focused magic into his palm, recreating elements of his Secret Art that he used to burn the magic cylinders at the cult, pushing magic through his skin a flame quickly took form in his palm, the usual orange growing in intensity and soon the flame was glowing white. A look of concern flickered through his face but was led when he saw Mirajane's determined face. He quickly planted a kiss on her forehead before placing the flame on her abdomen. The flame flashed dark purple and waves of power began pouring out of Mira with almost frightening speed. Natsu glanced up in worry but once again was shocked to see Mira laughing. "'C'mon Tsu that all? You did worse to me the other night." Mirajane spoke with a sultry smile causing Natsu to frown playfully and punch her in the arm softly, "Teaches me to be worried about you doesn't it?" He muttered under his breath causing Mira giggle, "Oh Tsu you silly boy, I'll make it up to you."  
"Alright then." Sighed Natsu, "But I call first dibs on the guild master.

Erza was in such a bad mood only the pirate captain and two deckhands remained conscious and that was because she needed them to sail. "When exactly will be getting there?" she demanded furiously, "Uh… we be arriving on land in forty minutes ma'am" the captain replied, sweating buckets. There came a thin-lipped smile, "Faster than I expected, thank you good captain." The captain couldn't nod faster in agreement then turned to his remaining crew. "YE HEARD TH' LADY, FASTER YE LANDLUBBERS" the crew scampered off to adjust sails.

Gray stared numbly at where his arm used to be, he'd defeated the girl and idiot with massive eyebrows easily but the dog-boy actually had skill and those claws clearly were sharp. He was reminded of when his master faced Deliora and frowned, one-handed Make Magic by nature was weaker than two-handed but it would have to do, he settled into a balanced stance and contorted his hand into the proper form. " **ICE-MAKE: ARM** " frost and snow swirled in the air and fingers and a thumb formed, then the rest of the hand, ice continued flowing up creating a fully functional arm and hand, feeling the huge drain on his magic he quickly changed to a two-handed stance and reinforced the arm before returning his gaze to his opponent that stepped past the ice-sculpture that had recently taken Gray's arm. "Reitei? Really Lyon? You always had a flair for the dramatic but this is a bit much don't you think?" The masked figure simply discarded his outfit revealing snow white hair and snorted in amusement, "This should be easy after Toby's blow, honestly Gray? Losing an arm?" Gray simply grinned, a sense of cockiness swelling out of nowhere, "It's what I get for underestimating a member of an assassins guild, you on the other hand? I'll make this quick." Gray settled into a stance " **ICE-MAKE: RAIN FROM HEAVEN** " hundreds of swords, axes and knives poured from the sky towards Lyon who, taken off guard, barely countered. " **ICE MAKE: SNOW TIGER** " the beast created began bounding towards Gray who simply smiled. " **ICE MAKE: SHIELD** " His tone was almost bored, "Honestly Lyon" he called out, "How many times did Ur tell you? One-handed Make Magic is weak!" Upon impacting the shield the tiger shattered into thousands of pieces. " **ICE MAKE: HAMMER** " yelled Gray, the huge object slamming into Lyon and leaving him unconscious. It was at this point Lucy decided to run out, "OH MY GOD GRAY ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" she screamed "Oh you know only missing a real arm, thanks for the help there by the way"  
"I… Uh… Well" she stuttered "Don't stress it Lucy, there wouldn't have been anything you could have done anyway." A catastrophic roar rolled over the island and Gray gave Lucy a sharp look, "I thought you destroyed the temple with the bull dude?" Lucy was visibly shaking, "There was this old robed guy! He fixed the whole temple with a wave of his hand!" Gray snorted and began running to the huge underground cavern where they had found the demon. It was time to confront his past. Neither of the two mages noticed the sky crack or that fragments of a purple substance were falling to the ground.

Erza landed on the beach with a thud and turned to the pirates "Don't even think of leaving, okay?"  
"YES MA'AM" came the resounding cry and the knight began heading to the nearby village.

Natsu ducked under an incoming fist and rolled to the side as a blast of snow shot towards where only seconds ago he had been standing. " **FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR** " he bellowed, the torrent of flames roasting any unfortunate dark mage in its radius. Behind him he could hear Mirajane's Satan Soul wreaking havoc, " **SOUL EXTINCTION** "  
" **FIRE DRAGON'S WING ATTACK** "  
" **EVIL SPARK** "  
" **IGNITE** " The two mages worked in perfect synchronicity, neither with a single inch of weakness in their defence and their devastating attacks easily blowing away the dark guild's cannon fodder. Now there was only the Ace and four S-Class remaining, and of course the master. "Let's get this done" growled Natsu, hearing Mirajane laughing delightedly.

Deliora was a monstrosity that had ruined Gray's life, "YOU TOOK MY FAMILY! MY MENTOR! AND MY FRIEND'S SANITY! BUT YOU WILL NOT TAKE ME!" The demon roared in anger, its gigantic fist headed towards Gray, without even thinking Gray simply screamed back and swung his fist in retaliation… The monster's hand cracked slightly, the faults ripping up the demon's body before the entire thing crumbled to dust. Gray smiled "Thank you… Ur", he then swayed slightly and collapsed to the ground. But not before he caught a glimpse of a furious red-head entering sending a terrified shiver down his spine.

"Deliora was a failed project Master I apologised. However the Ice Mage intrigues me, not only was trained by my deceased mother but he has a strong resemblance to the Demon Gate we captured from Tartarus" A hooded face muttered into a lacrima. "Very well" came the response. "Go deal with Siegrain now. No doubt he wants news on his siblings."  
"Of course Master."


	6. Chapter 6

Natsu's eyes glittered dangerously as he weighed up the opponents facing him and Mirajane, one huge hulk of a man, muscles rippling everywhere and carrying a cannon that looked like it belonged in the middle of a naval battle, a short crop of blonde hair was perched on top of a rather piggy looking face and he wore not much more than a leather bandolier and baggy trousers.

The next was stood calmly, in a position that betrayed an atmosphere of someone who had seen hundreds of battles and lost few, shaggy black hair hung over a green, black and white painted face, making it impossible to see what he truly looked like, from his hands two throwing axes hung loosely, if you looked closely engravings could be made out of what appeared to be a group hunting boar, around his neck were carved bones strung together and tied around his waist above tight leather pants were ten or so animal furs.

The last two were girls, the first had neon blue hair tied into a messy bun, matching evilly smiling eyes, she wore a loose top that rested just above the navel and ripped jeans clung to her legs over black boots. Her hands were slowly being surrounded by swirling grey light.

The final mage was recognisable as a girl however her appearance was far from human, curling ram horns stood proudly out of a mess of black hair, her hands were tipped with vicious talons and her arms and chest were covered in a shell similar to that of an insect. What was most prominent however was the towering scorpion tail behind her.

Then to the Fairy Tail mages' surprise she laughed "I've seen enough here, it was great to be released by you lot" this she said to the other dark mages "but I've better things to do than fight one of my old nemesis' brats. Ta ta for now." The dark mage grinned widely as the ground began cracking beneath her, then she fell into a rapidly resealing hole and was gone, only leaving a damaged floor behind.

The temperature suddenly skyrocketed, "That was Serket!" hissed Natsu angrily, Mirajane looked at him worriedly "Who?" she asked and placed a hand on his shoulder to prevent his magic flaring further. "The Burrowing Scorpion, the first of the Three Demons."

The blue haired girl began giggling maniacally, "Oh you know about them? So much more interesting than those Zeref dummies don't you think? We gave up ol' Sally's body as a host to one of them a month ago and to be honest I'm amazed the gal lasted this long."

Natsu's scowl deepened and his magic flared again, "You can have her Mira" he growled "I'll deal with Thing 1 and Thing 2." The aforementioned mages looked at him, the mass of muscles cracking his neck and shooting a threatening look, the second man simply gave an evaluating look, as if planning how to best hurt him. Natsu lit both hands on fire and smashed them together, "Let's do this."

"You gonna regret messin' with me lil' boy, ain't no one Tank not beaten." The words forced themselves out of the piggish man's mouth, slow and dully, like a tranquilised rhino. Natsu tilted his head as to act confused, "You been hit on the head too many times man? Sounding like you got a concussion going on there or something." The so called 'Tank' let out a bellow and levelled his cannon at Natsu, purplish light gathering down the barrel of the gun and soon the weapon fired, a sweeping beam of purple scything through stone metal and some of the man's unconscious comrades. Quickly Natsu leapt over the beam but seeing the damage caused and the man's clear willingness to kill shook him. "Note to self" he muttered, "Deal with the gun."

Mirajane looked at the girl facing her, leaning back slightly to avoid a sudden shot of energy. Feeling the gathering magic in the room Mirajane smiled and gathered her own magic, " **Demon Blast** ", the mixture of black and magenta energy rocketed towards the gothic girl, crushing remaining pieces of wall to rubble. The girl walked out unscathed, giggling slightly, the grey light… intensified and condensed into a small sphere. It then shattered and the room turned misty and grey, " **The Light of Dusk** " she incanted, loose strands of air blowing around her face.

Natsu bared his fangs as he propelled his body upwards, flipping over another shot from Tank, pouring magic into his hands he thrust it at the cannon, " **Melt** ", the iron glowed red with heat, slowly getting brighter and brighter. The cannon's metal was clearly very fire resistant and refused to melt however. The same couldn't be said of it's owner and with a yelp Tank dropped it, clutching at his burnt hands. Snorting in amusement Natsu picked up the cannon, whirled it around his head a few times and then slammed it into the man's skull. "Moron" commented Natsu, eyes narrowed as he searched for his other, elusive, opponent.

Mirajane could barely see, the grey thickened light made sight a faint memory and there was a malevolent presence coiling in this mist filling the room. She cocked her head to one side and listened intently, enhanced, pointed ears twitching as they registered every sigh of breath to every clash of metal in the room. Noticing a small clink directly behind her she spun and sent a vicious blast of energy as she turned, only to be bopped on the head by her pouting opponent. "Don't tell me you're _that_ rusty Majin! I was your biggest fan and this is what I get?"

Mira scowled, "I hate fangirls" she muttered under her breath and soon a ring of her signature purple light began rotating around her at frightening speeds, " **Devil's Halo** " she spoke lowly and it rocketed outwards, clearing the entire room of the strange mist before. As it dispersed it revealed the blue haired girl grinning widely. "That's more like it" she said in a sing song voice. "By the way, **Dusk's Torment** " her grin widening in delight, Mira's teeth gritted as hundreds of marks flared up on her skin where it had come into contact with the odd mist.

Natsu twitched as a hand-axe whirled past, cutting a graze into his cheek. He quickly flung his head backwards to avoid it's twin as that nearly parted his neck from the rest of his body, nostrils flaring Natsu could only detect the faintest hint of his adversary and nowhere near well enough to track his position, "Fuck" he muttered and spun on a heel hoping to catch the man unawares. However there was no-one behind either, squinting he turned again but still couldn't catch a glimpse of the man. "FUCK!" he roared, burning hot flames filling the area, "I'LL SMOKE YOU OUT" he yelled into the empty, burning room. His shoulder felt a sharp pinch and he looked down to see a feathered dart sticking from the unprotected skin, he heard a slight whistling noise and suddenly two more darts joined the previous. Natsu sent his internal temperature soaring, "Don't think so mate" he growled, pulling the darts from his arm. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the smoke shift unnaturally and grinned.

Mira spun in midair as she shot towards the girl facing her, avoiding a blast of curling grey light before pulling her body up and turning so her legs now were straight in front of her and she slammed into the girl, kicking her across the room before her flight was painfully cut short with a blow to a stone pillar. The girl stood up and cracked her knuckles before beaming out a bright smile, "Oh this is amazing! I have wanted to fight you for like the longest time! Can you imagine? Me beating the Majin? The boys back at base will never live it down!" Mirajane cocked her head, "Back at base? As in this isn't?" The girl looked up worriedly "Shit, that slipped out at the worst possible moment didn't it?" She shrugged and raised her arm as light swirled, "Woops, **Blades of Mist** ", grey light poured from her fingers and coalesced into hundreds of shards, the girl whipped her hand back and then threw it forwards at Mirajane, sending the mist flying at her. Mirajane cursed and rolled to one side before raising her own arm, " **Demon Blast!** " her attack grazed the girls side and shot out into the sky.

Natsu sank low, sending out a sweeping kick to knock the man's legs out and then blasted fire upwards at his opponent. The man toppled but managed to avoid the blast, neither of the two were in a good way, Natsu was covered in scratches and cuts, no longer bothering to pull out the darts. The man had burns everywhere and most of the furs at his waist were now cinders, face paint smudged. "You fight well Dragonslayer" said the man, "For standing so long against me you deserve to live to fight me another day, a Hunter must respect prey that wins its own survival". Natsu flipped himself up and sent two fast punches sinking into the man's chest "What's that mean huh? You running away?" The man hissed in pain as he drew to carved bone daggers and began his own counter-attack, the blades slicing through the air and carving new cuts into Natsu, "Unfortunately not. I have orders" He replied and drove one dagger through Natsu's leg, "BASTARD!" Natsu yelled and drew one arm back, " **Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!** " he roared and hit the man square in the chest. The explosion echoed around the surrounding land and the man fell to the floor with a huge thud, wincing he dragged himself up and held an arm over a severely burnt chest. "Four broken ribs" he muttered, "I don't think my orders accounted for me being defeated. I will see you again Dragonslayer." He said and muttered a spell, the entire area surrounding them filling with rainforest. "Damn" muttered Natsu, blasting trees aside to see if the man was still there, however he was gone.

Mirajane and the girl were now locked in hand to hand combat, fists flying on both sides and spells completely forgotten, Mirajane kicked out a leg and it snapped into the girl's shin causing her to scream in pain, in response the girl sank a rock-hard punch right between Mira's legs, causing her to crumple in agony. "I know right! Who would of thought it works on girls too but it does!" the girl was distracted suddenly and glanced to one side noticing the sudden presence of a jungle a couple hundred metres over. "Son of a bitch, how am I supposed to explain this one?" she sighed and looked down at Mira, who was now recovering, "Sorry sweetcakes but I have to run, can't manage you two on my own, **Soaring Light** " a beam of grey light covered her and she was gone from sight. "Dammit" spat Mirajane, however she suddenly had a thought of how to test her newfound knowledge on weak spots. "Look out Erza" she muttered.

Natsu slowly limped over, tearing the dagger from his thigh and quickly cauterising the wound. "Yo Mira!" He grinned as he made his way over, "Good fight wasn't it" he said, Mira smiled back, "Yes it was, I would have beaten the cow as well if she hadn't hit me with a cheap shot and then bolted." Natsu held out a hand to lift her up and she lifted herself up he laughed, "Yeah mine ran to, I think there's more to this"  
"Definitely" agreed Mira, "She mentioned 'boys back at base', it sounds like they were a different group as well." Nodding slowly Natsu sighed, "Mine said something about 'orders', this whole thing reeks of a set up."  
"Ah well we can mull this over on the trip back" said Mira, "Right after we've dealt with the other two"

 _Hi Tom here, sorry for not updating in forever but i had no motivation for ages, however I'm back now so there should be some sporadic updates, thanks for reading and reviewing as always._


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